Midnight Melody
by Addicted2Him
Summary: There's a new passenger who witnesses the events on the shuttle on planet Midnight. Her name is Melody. She shouldn't be there. And she shouldn't have a crush on Jethro Cane. JethroxOC
1. No Longer Invisible

Aboard the small transport shuttle there were seven passengers, the hostess, the driver, and the mechanic. The seven passengers consisted of a professor and his assistant, a mother, father, and son, a business woman, and a doctor. The doctor, who was quite literally The Doctor, was practically bouncing in his seat excitedly. The mother and father, Val and Biff cane, were talking animatedly to one another, while the son, Jethro, looked absolutely mortified to be there. The assistant, Dee Dee Blasco, was listening to Professor Hobbes babble and the woman, Sky Silvestry, was keeping to herself. In the seat, in front of the Doctor, the eighth passenger lay curled in on herself, unnoticed.

This was her twelfth time appearing in a situation she didn't belong in. It was her fourth time in this exact situation. Determined not to get involved, she hugged her knees tighter to her chest. Luckily, she always seemed invisible since the accident that caused—Don't think about that, she scolded herself.

"—complementary juicepack and complementary peanuts," said the hostess to the Doctor, handing him the containers. "I must warn you that some products may contain nuts."

The smiling Doctor said, "That'll be the peanuts."

The eighth passenger grinned. That line was always funny. She focused in on the other voices, listening for one in particular despite herself.

"Do what your mother says," said Biff loudly.

"I'm sitting here." Ah, there is was. Jethro's voice.

The hostess's voice rang out all too quickly. "Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty—"

The eighth passenger tuned her out. It was quite impossible, however, to tune out the obnoxious entertainment system. She covered her ears unsuccessfully, waiting for the Doctor to use his sonic screwdriver. She heard the buzz as he did.

"Well, that's a mercy!" said Prof. Hobbes.

The hostess came forth again. "I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon. We seem to have had a failure of the Entertainment System."

"Thank God," the eighth passenger murmured.

"But what do we do?" Val Cane cried in dismay.

"We've got four hours of this! Four hours of just sitting here!" Biff huffed.

The Doctor popped over the seat. "Tell you what! We'll have to talk to each other instead! How about that then? Eh?" He turned and stuck his head over the seat in front of him. "Let's start with you, hm? What's your name?"

She stared up at him, wide-eyed. There could be no mistaking it. He was staring directly at her. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Me?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course you!" he said with a smile. "Don't think you could get away with hiding, what's your name?"

The eighth passenger was a girl, about seventeen years old. Her eyes were a crystalline green, and her hair a dark brown. "Melody."

Jethro removed his headphones. "Who are you talking to?"

The Doctor was still grinning. "I'm talking to Melody," he said. "Nice to meet you, Melody."

She sat up as the Doctor moved around the shuttle, getting introductions. He had seen her. How was that possible? Her breath caught in her throat. Jethro was watching her. Everyone could see her! But how—

_I could change things._

Heart pounding, she looked away from Jethro. Maybe she could. Maybe no one had to die this time around.

* * *

Melody found herself listening to conversations she'd heard three times before. She tried to participate, including herself in the circle of communication by sitting on the floor by Jethro's seat in the almost-center of the conversations. If her plan was going to work, she needed them to trust her. She told them of her life as if she still lived it, as if the accident had never happened. Living with her dad and older brother, wanting to travel the universe like her mother had.

"Why choose to come here?" Jethro snorted.

"It's a planet made out of diamonds." She smiled. "I'm a girl, remember?" The other passengers laughed. "No, but the truth is I didn't have much of a choice."

That much was true. Jethro nodded his sympathies and gave her a smile. Her heart stuttered.

* * *

"So," said the Doctor four-hundred Kliks later, seating himself next to her. "Why didn't you have a choice in coming here?"

Melody shrugged. "I just didn't."

"Oh, come on. Everyone's got a choice."

"Not me." Her smile was melancholy. "Not me, Doctor."

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he turned towards her fully with a bright face and beamed, "Let's talk about something cheerier!"

Melody blinked. "Like...?"

Something caught her eye and she looked back over the seat. Jethro was glaring at his parents, but when he saw her looking he grinned at her slyly. Melody felt her face begin to burn and looked away.

"That," said the Doctor. "Let's talk about that. He's still watching you, by the way."

"He is?" She blushed. "There's nothing to talk about. We don't know each other and after this trip we'll never see each other again."

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Yeah, well, you never know that for sure. The universe likes to throw a curveball sometimes."

"Should I...?" She nodded her head in Jethro's direction.

"Yes!" the Doctor urged. "Go, go, shoo!"

* * *

Jethro watched her get up and walk over to him, barely able to contain his smile. She was pretty, he couldn't deny, and her style was something that had always attracted him. Black leather choker with a silver pendent, short olive green cargo shorts, white tank top, and plain black sneakers with white laces, similar to the pair the Doctor wore. While the clothes fit her well, she looked mussed, her dark hair in messy curls. It was the devil-may-care attitude in looks that attracted him. Contrary to her outfit, Melody seemed like a genuinely nice girl and, unless he was mistaken, she was attracted to him. He was eighteen—he knew how to flirt, and do it well.

She sat in the empty seat next to him. "Hey." _I don't know if I remember how to do this._

"Hey," he said with a smirk. "How was boring is this trip?"

"Scale of one to ten?" She smiled slightly. _After the fourth time, ten million. _"Eleven."

"Oh, clever," he teased. "I agree. I can't wait for something eventful to happen."

Her smile froze. "Careful what you wish for."

She tried to make her tone as light as possible. He winked, and she relaxed. Then the full force behind his wink hit home and she flushed.

"You're blushing," he said in a low voice. His fingertips brushed her knee and goosebumps erupted on her skin. He grinned. "Do I make you nervous?"

Silently, Melody cursed the crush she had developed on this boy. He was intelligent, funny, not to mention hot. This was helping nothing. Not to mention the fact that he was most likely only talking to her because she was the only female his age and he was bored.

Jethro was watching her, amazed. So many emotions in one person, and they were all on display in her eyes. How could anyone's eyes express so much? Pain, fear, worry, awe, wonder, elation, insecurity, guilt—Jethro thought he would overload. At the same time, there was something off about her. Like she didn't quite belong. The closer he looked at her, examined her, the less-focused and fuzzy she became. It was an odd visual effect. Maybe his eyes were just tired.

"Melody!" called the Doctor. He gestured at her and she moved slowly, reluctantly, back to her old seat.

"What is it?" she asked.

He gazed at her searchingly. "You're starting to go transparent."

* * *

A/N: i've always loved Jethro. please comment?


	2. What Am I?

Melody inhaled sharply. "Oh no."

"What is it?" The Doctor took in her frightened expression. "What's wrong? Why are you fading?"

"I don't know," she said. Something dawned on her and she leaned forward intently, whispering, "You're a time-traveler, aren't you?" When he opened his mouth to protest she waved him away. "Don't deny, don't ask how I knew. But I...Something happened to me and now I keep going places I've never been before. I've been here, on this shuttle during this exact moment, three other times before but never when I was—" She stopped. "Never before the accident. You're the Doctor, aren't you? The one I keep hearing about all over the universe? Tell me what's wrong with me. Tell me what I am."

Melody grabbed onto his arm. He looked apologetic.

"I don't know." He thought about it. "It could be any number of things. A time-loop, a memory—"

"But I've never been here," she stressed.

"It could be a projection or simulation," the Doctor suggested. "Organic or computer-generated, it's very hard to tell these days...Your spirit could be time-traveling, I've seen that happen...You're sure you've never been to any of those places, never seen them? Not even in pictures?"

"My mom had this photo album of worlds she wanted to go to, but the only picture I saw was Midnight—"

"Maybe that's why you come here so often," he thought aloud.

"But I've never seen Dramos or Florana or Calufrax, oh god I hated Calufrax...No one for miles and nothing but snow..." She shook her head. "Once I woke up and there were these metal things flying everywhere and people dying all around and a man bleeding on the ground next to me—" She tried to control the volume of her voice. "—and when I went over to him I could see his heart. He had _two _of them, Doctor."

The Doctor's eyes were huge. "You're following me."

"What?"

"For some reason, you're going everywhere I've been. Why? What kind of accident was it that started all of this?"

Before Melody could answer, the shuttle jerked to a screeching halt.

Val Cane immediately straightened up. "We've stopped. Have we stopped?"

Her husband looked confused. "Are we there?"

"Can't be," said Dee Dee. "It's too soon."

"They don't stop," Prof. Hobbes chimedi n. "Crusader vehicles never stop."

"Of course not," Melody muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "You would know, you've taken this trip fourteen bloody times."

The Doctor gave her a look.

"What?" she said. "Fourth time, remember? I know what's going to happen, I've heard it all before. It gets a little grating and repetitive."

" 'Scuse me, Hostess?" Hobbes continued, having apparently not heard her. "Why have we stopped?"

The hostess adopted the same commercial look she had at the beginning of the trip. "If you could just return to your original seats, thank you very much. It's just a small delay." She picked up the phone by the door.

"Maybe just a pit stop," said Biff.

Hobbes shook his head. "But there's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times, they never stop."

Melody raised her eyebrows at the Doctor as if to say, See?

"Well evidently we have stopped," Sky replied sharply, "so what's the point in denying it?"

Jethro broke into a smile. "We've broken down!"

"Thank you, Jethro," said his mom.

"In the middle of nowhere!" He shot his beaming smile towards Melody.

"That's enough, now stop it!" Biff snapped.

The hostess hung up the phone, beginning right in on her speech. Melody zoned out until she heard the hostess say, "If you could just stay in your seats..."

She patted the Doctor's arm. "That's your cue to go talk to the Driver." They both stood up. "And," she added, "if they'll listen to you, get them to come in here."

He frowned at her. "Why?"

"Just...believe me."

When the Doctor went to the front of the shuttle, Melody ignored the disapproving look of the hostess and moved to the back to sit next to Jethro.

"This is more exciting, isn't it?" he said to her. "Before we were going to visit some lame sapphire waterfall and now we're broken down in the middle of nowhere!"

Melody smiled. "Your idea of exciting is a bit unusual."

Jethro shrugged and changed the subject. "How'd you get your dad to let you travel the universe all alone?"

She bit her lip, contemplating her reply carefully. "Honestly? I think after Mom died he just kinda forgot I existed. My brother basically raised me from there."

"You have an older brother, right?" Jethro smiled. "What's he like?"

"He's twenty-two, hot headed, stubborn..." Melody laughed softly. "And I can't get him to clean anything."

"Is he...overprotective?"

Melody shrugged, playing with a fraying string on her tank top. "I guess. Why?" She looked up at him through her lashes, and his grin kick-started her heart.

"Wondering if I'll have to defend myself," he said simply.

"Against my brother? What for?"

"If I ask you out on a date." Jethro winked again.

As Melody's poor cheeks burned, the knocking began. Three knocks, against the side of the shuttle.

And the nightmare Melody had witnessed three times before began again.

* * *

A/N: it's short, sorry, i'm kinda rushed. :/ review?


	3. It Begins

It started out differently.

First, the knocking started too soon after the Doctor went into the driver's cabin. Melody began to worry, just slightly, that maybe she had sent him in too late. _No, _she thought. _I remember what happens just before the front of the car vanishes. I'll get him out in time. _She looked down at her hands as, slowly, she began to solidify again._  
_

People in the shuttle were murmuring to themselves. Prof. Hobbes kept muttering about "fourteen times", Dee Dee was rubbing his arm. Biff and Val were talking to each other heatedly, while Jethro flinched in the seat beside them. None of them seemed to have heard the knock.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Jethro.

He looked at her and frowned. "Hear what?"

She shook her head and looked away. "Nothing," she said. "Never mind."

Jethro shrugged. He tapped his foot a few times on the floor, then sighed. Touching her arm, he asked, "If I said something wrong..."

Melody's head snapped to him. "What? What, no! You didn't do anything! I'm just distracted."

"I like it better," he said slowly, a grin forming on his face, "when you're distracted by me."

Her face turned red, but she shook her head again and whispered, "You don't know me."

"I'd like to." The honesty of his response startled him. He'd never been so utterly fascinated with a girl. There wasn't even anything outright spectacular about her, but something...something made her different.

"Jethro, I..." Her breath froze in her throat when his hand reached up to touch her cheek.

Truthfully, he didn't know why he was doing it. He'd always been kind of flirty with girls—after all, they liked his bad-boy persona most of the time—but to be this forward? Maybe he was just a little out of practice.

But boy, was he glad he'd done it. As soon as his fingertips touched her cheek, he found himself suddenly fascinated. Attracted like a magnet. He traced her jawline with featherlike touch, lifting her chin until she had to look him in the eye. She looked at him, confused and conflicted.

"What's going on?" he murmured. "What are you doing to me?"

Her eyelids fluttered at his low voice. "Nothing on purpose," she whispered back.

He wanted to kiss her, oh how badly he wanted to kiss her—

"Jethro! What on Earth are you doing?" snapped Val. "That is highly inappropriate!"

Jethro sighed, spell between he and Melody broken. His hand dropped from her as he turned to look at his parents. "Bug off, Mom. We're not doing anything wrong."

Melody's face exploded into a blush, and she stared at her hands.

"To even think about—" Val shook her head disapprovingly. "I will not have such a harlot around my son!"

Jethro flinched. "Mom—"

"Don't argue with your mother," said Biff.

"I think I'll go check on the Doctor," said Melody, standing up.

Jethro went to grab her hand, but she pulled away. Before the hostess could even protest, Melody had closed the door with a whoosh behind her.

* * *

"Ah, Melody, just the girl I wanted to see!" said the Doctor with a smile. "Can you please explain to these fine gentlemen why it's necessary to follow me out of the cockpit?" His smile kind of faltered. "I'm not really sure myself. You know, you really are a mysterious girl, clever I bet, but very mysterious, usually _I'm _the one who knows everything, this is a bit of role-reversal here—"

Melody raised her eyebrows. "Doctor, you're babbling."

"Well, yeah," he said, drawing out the 'yeah'. "I tend to do that often. Bit of a tick."

The mechanic and driver stared at Melody. She cleared her throat and tried to look more impressive than a seventeen-year-old girl.

"Look, I just need you to take my word for it," she said. "I can't explain how I know, I'd just sound crazy. But if you guys stay in here, you're going to die."

* * *

The guilt weighed heavily on her mind when she and the Doctor exited the cockpit without the mechanic and driver. They hadn't listened to her. _I guess there's some things I can't change._

"Melody," said the Doctor, "I've been time-traveling for a very long time." He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "Sometimes there's a fixed event in time, and you can't change it."

"But it's just two people," she whispered. "I'm just trying to save two people. What's the point of being seen this time if I can't save anyone?"

"Maybe you came back this time for a different reason."

Her eyes went to Jethro, who straightened up in his seat when he saw her. Then she saw Jethro's mother glaring at her. "I don't know, Doctor."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"About what?"

"What kind of accident was it?"

Melody's eyes misted over. She rubbed them forcefully. "I...It was a fire. My mom had died when my little sister was born. She had to give birth on a space shuttle, and they didn't have the right medical care. My sister was premature. She died not long after." Melody swallowed. "I was eight. My brother, Tom, was twelve."

"I'm so sorry," said the Doctor. He sat her down in the front row. "But the accident, Melody, what about the fire?"

"I wanted to take Mom's scrapbook and visit the universe. My brother and I got in an argument about it...he threw the poker at the fireplace, and some embers hit the curtains. The last thing I remember was him trying to get me out. When I woke up, I was on a different planet. That's when the fading started."

"What about your brother? And your father?"

Melody's lip began to tremble. Jethro began to creep forward. He could just barely hear them. _Fire? She was in a fire?_

"I think they're dead, Doctor," she said. "I don't know why, but I just have the feeling...I have the feeling they died in the fire."

The Doctor's face was more serious than she'd seen it as of yet. "Melody, I'm sorry. That must have been terrible."

"I just want to know what I am, Doctor." She looked up at him pleadingly. "Do you know what's happening to me?"

Before the Doctor could answer, three loud knocks echoed against the size of the shuttle. And this time, conversation ceased as everyone heard it.


	4. Trapped

"What was that?" asked Val.

"It's just the metal," Hobbes said. "We're cooling down, it must be settling."

Melody tuned out the words she'd heard three times before. That is, until it tapped again. It was closer to her, right next to her, outside the shuttle. She jumped, not expecting it, and backed away from that wall.

_Tap tap._

Two, harder, louder. On the wall behind Melody now. _It's following me! Why?_

"Knock knock," said the Doctor quietly.

"Who's there?" Jethro chuckled.

"Jethro, don't," Melody whispered.

Sky was beginning to lose it. Melody went over to her and hushed her.

"Please," she said quietly. "Sky, you need to try and stay calm. I'm trying to help you."

Sky's voice was rising in hysterics. "What is that? What's going on? Is there someone out there?"

"Excuse me!" said Hobbes. "I must insist. I'm sorry, but the light out there isX-tonic, that means it would destroy any living thing, in a split-second, I mean any sort of lifeform—carbon based, hydrogen-based, silicates, gaseous, every form of life in the known universe, it's impossible, literally impossible, for someone to be outside."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Professor, now is really not the time—"

_TAP TAP!_

Everyone looked around, searching for its origin. The Doctor went around the shuttle, his ear to the wall. Biff got up, and went to the door.

"Biff, don't," Val said.

The Doctor stood up from the wall. "Mr. Cane, you'd better not..."

"Cast iron, that door." Biff knocked three times at the door. _Tap tap tap._

A few seconds later, the answer came. _Tap tap tap._

Melody looked all around. How to stop this, how to change it...

"Three times!" cried Val. "Did you hear that, three times!"

"It answered!" Jethro said. He glanced over at Melody, but his expression changed as he saw hers. "Melody, what's wrong?"

She tangled her fingers in her hair. What to do, what to say, how to change it... "I need to change it, or it's going to end badly. Oh, Jethro." She ran to him, clutching at his arm. "Please don't think I'm crazy. I need your help. I need you to believe me."

The urgency in her voice removed the playfulness from his eyes. He nodded, his hand covering hers. "Alright, Melody. What do you need help with?"

"We need to keep everyone calm and, more importantly, quiet." She turned. "Doctor!"

He turned to her, frowning.

"Doctor, keep everyone quiet. It's very, very important that we try to refrain from talking as much as possible."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

She smiled thinly. "Spoilers."

"Spoilers? What an odd phrase..."

Melody shrugged. "A woman I met on Florana said that often. She said she knew you."

Sky, however, was yelling over her voice. She was completely losing it. Melody went over to her and covered her mouth, looking into her eyes.

"Sky, please," Melody said. "If you aren't quiet, everyone on this shuttle will be in danger."

"What's that girl saying to her?" said Val rather loudly.

"She's trying to keep Sky calm," said Jethro.

"Oh, so she thinks she's so important and mighty—"

"Mom, shut up."

"Don't talk to her like that," Biff snapped. "Ungrateful—all you do is mope around—"

"Must you do this now!" shouted Melody, spinning around to them.

Sky was whimpering, scared half out of her mind. "It's coming for me," she said, backing up. Indeed, the tapping was growing closer, toward where Melody and Sky were standing. "It's coming for me!"

"Sky, don't!" said Melody, trying to get the woman out of a corner.

The Doctor ran forward from the back. "Get out of there—"

"Melody—" began Jethro.

As the tapping was right above them, a thought occurred to Melody. _I'm not supposed to be here. Maybe I can_—

She pushed Sky aside just as the wall above her buckled. Sky collapsed against the other wall, having hit her head. Melody screamed as the shuttle was plunged into darkness. Sparks flew from the wall panels, and then the shuttle began to shift, lurch from side to side.

Then it stopped, and the Doctor was the first to stand.

"Arms. Legs. Neck. Head. Nose. I'm fine, everyone else?"

The broken screen near him flickered on, then died, and as he turned away, a blonde woman appeared on the screen. Mute, she mouthed 'Doctor' to no avail. It disappeared before he could see it.

But Melody didn't see any of this. Instead of Sky sitting in the corner, curled in on herself, it was Melody. They would find her like that, soon, when the hostess handed out torches. In the meanwhile, in Melody's mind, she was fighting an unfair battle.

_"Who's there?" she called out, spinning in a circle. There was blackness all around her._

_"Who's there?" came the echo._

_"You can't steal my voice, I won't let you!"_

_"You can't steal my voice, I won't let you."_

_"I know what you are."_

_"I know what you are."_

_Melody sank to her knees, covering her eyes. I have to fight this. I can't let this thing get to the other passengers. I have to hold it in._

_Let it out, let it out, let it out, let me through..._

_No._

_Pain enveloped her mind, squeezing, constricting._

_No, no, no, no._

"Melody?" said the Doctor, approaching her slowly. "Melody, are you alright?"

Jethro rushed past him, trying to lift her head. "Melody? Melody!"

She was curled tightly inside herself, arms wrapped around her knees, head down. Sky sat in the corner where Melody had shoved her, staring at the girl.

"She...Is she alright?" asked Sky.

"This should've been you," said Jethro angrily. "She saved you!"

"Jethro," the Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Melody.

"You should be the one sitting here like this, not her!"

"Jethro."

"What?" He whirled on the Doctor.

"You're upsetting her." Indeed, as the Doctor moved a piece of hair away from Melody's face, Jethro could see the tears falling from the corner of Melody's closed eyes.

Then, suddenly, Melody's eyes flashed open. "You're upsetting her," she said in a monotone.

"Melody?" Jethro knelt by her. The Doctor moved aside for him. "Are you alright?"

"Melody?" she repeated. "Are you alright?"

Jethro frowned. "Melody, what are you doing?"

Melody's eyes were wide, and she cocked her head. "Melody, what are you doing?"

"That's really starting to freak me out—"

"That's really starting to freak me out—"

"What's she doing?" asked Val. "That's creepy, make her stop."

Melody turned her gaze to Val. "What's she doing? That's creepy, make her stop."

The Doctor searched Melody's empty eyes and found only traces of emotion. Fear and desperation behind the blankness. Whatever was happening, Melody was scared of it.

"Oh, Melody," he whispered. "Is this what you were trying to warn me about?"

She turned her head to him. "Oh, Melody," she said, and he could swear that the voice—not Melody's voice, it didn't sound like Melody's voice—was mocking him. "Is this what you were trying to warn me about?"


	5. Sacrifice

For a few solid moments, the Doctor simply stared at Melody with a set expression. The cogs in his brain turned, trying to figure out some way, some angle, to get ahea. Behind him, Jethro rubbed his mouth with his hand; a gesture for a man much older.

"What's happening to her?" he asked.

Melody's blank eyes moved to him as she repeated his words.

"Melody told us not to talk, Jethro," said the Doctor quietly.

"That noise, from outside, it's stopped." Jethro's words were quiet.

"Well thank God for that," said his mother.

"But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?" Jethro licked his dry lips, not taking his eyes off of Melody.

Melody repeated every word a beat after it was said. The Doctor watched her, fascinated and worried.

"Inside where?" said Val.

"It was heading for her," Jethro looked at Sky, who was still staring at the girl who'd probably saved her life, "but Melody pushed her out of the way."

"Jethro, stop it." The Doctor observed Melody, speaking in a serious, firm tone.

This time, however, when Melody repeated, there was a much shorter delay.

"She's getting better," said Val, backing up. "How is she doing that?"

"She's getting better, how is she doing that—"

"Doctor, make her stop!" Sky cried.

"Doctor, make her stop—"

"Now, Doctor," Biff erected himself to his full height. "Can't you do something about that?"

"Now, Doctor, can't you do something about that—"

"Somebody shut her up!" Sky covered her ears.

"Somebody shut her up—"

* * *

Trapped on the inside looking out, Melody felt like crying.

"Doctor!" she screamed hopelessly. "Doctor, it wants your voice! It wants to steal your voice! Doctor!"

* * *

"All of you!" roared the Doctor suddenly. "Just—"

"All of you," began the repeat, when suddenly Melody's voice, her real voice, came bursting back filled with terror. "Doctor!"

The Doctor whipped around. "Melody?"

Immediately, the shuttle quieted as everyone waited.

"Doctor, Doctor," sobbed Melody, clutching at him. "Doctor, it wants your voice. I tried to stop it but I couldn't. It wants to steal your voice! It doesn't have one of its own so it wants to take yours!" She groaned as if in pain. "It killed the driver and the mechanic, it stranded us here, oh Doctor it wants our voices, all of our voices. But it'll want yours soon, just yours, Doctor please you can't let it."

"Melody, how do I stop it?" asked the Doctor. He searched her frightened face. "This is important."

"I don't know, I don't know—"

"You've seen it before, haven't you? What did we do last time?"

"It was in Sky," she moaned. "It was in Sky and Sky had to die—"

"I don't want to die—!" began Sky immediately.

"Not now," said the Doctor. "Melody, focus."

"I have to die," she said to him. "Doctor, Doctor you'll have to kill me."

"She's gone mad." Val's eyes were wide and judgemental.

"Shut up, Mom," snapped Jethro.

He kneeled by Melody, who immediately threw her arms around him and began to cry.

"Jethro, Jethro..." She murmured his name over and over. "I'm so scared, Jethro..."

"She's mad!" Val said again.

"No, she's not." It hit the Doctor suddenly and he smacked his forehead. "Oh, of course! She's in flux! She's an anomaly, one little person who slipped through the wrinkles and cracks in space and time—It all makes sense! That explains everything!" He began to pace, speaking mostly to himself as he sorted it through in his head. "The fire must have been situated on a rip in the fabric of time and instead of dying with her family she just fell through! She goes through moments where she fluctuates in time, that's why she travels, that's why she appears—She must be following the Tardis's time signature!"

The others stared at him blankly.

"Blimey, he's gone mad too!" muttered Biff.

"When she's in flux," the Doctor continued, unheeded, "the creature can't control her!"

"What are you talking about?" said Hobbes. His tone was filled with suspicion. "Who are you, really?"

"He does seem a bit strange, doesn't he?" DeeDee added.

"He's seemed strange all along," the hostess said suddenly. "What kind of Doctor are you?"

"I...dabble."

"How do we know that girl isn't just mad?" asked Sky.

In the dimly lit shuttle, the Doctor realized he didn't like the expressions on their faces.

"She said it killed the driver and mechanic. Well?" said Jethro, gently rocking the hysterical girl. "Check the cockpit!"

The hostess sighed agitatedly and pressed the button to the other cabin. X-tonic light blinded them brightly, and she smacked the button to close the door again. "The whole cockpit," she said, stunned. "It's gone."

Val looked at Melody, frightened, and walked quickly forward in front of the girl. "How did she know that?" She grabbed Melody away from Jethro, shaking her.

"Mom!"

"How did you know that?" Val shouted.

"How did you know that?"

Everyone froze. The Doctor was the first to move. He pried Val's hands away from Melody and Val backed away, trembling.

"Melody, Melody stay with me," pressed the Doctor.

"Melody, Melody stay with me." Her face was expressionless, voice monotone...repeats closer together.

"Melody, fight this." The Doctor looked in her blank eyes.

"Melody, fight this."

"Give her back," said Jethro suddenly. His face blossomed into an angry expression. "What ever you are—"

"Give her back, whatever you are—"

"Melody, you can—" The Doctor stopped. It, the thing in Melody, was saying his words with him.

* * *

"No, no, no!" Melody watched helplessly as the very events she had tried to prevent unfolded before her eyes. She watched the Doctor try to be his heroic self, she watched the others slowly being to turn on him. She _felt_ as the creature that had stolen her body took away the Doctor's voice. All the while Sky, the one who should have been here all along, huddled in the corner like a frightened child.

"No, no..." She tangled her hands in her hair as they crowded around the paralyzed and voiceless Doctor. Only Jethro stayed back. "You idiots, you stupid, stupid people, don't you know what you're doing? _It's still in me_!"

* * *

Jethro swallowed thickly. His father yelled for him to help, but he couldn't. He couldn't. He _wouldn't_ help them throw out the Doctor.

"_Do as I say!_"

Jethro shook his head. "No, no, I won't."

"Coward!" his father snapped.

Jethro flinched, then looked to Melody, frightened by her malicious grin as she observed the scene, speaking out harshly, encouraging them to jettison the Doctor.

"Molto bene—"

"Molto bene—" The poor Doctor, voice lagging so far behind Melody's...

"_Allons-y_—"

"_Allons-y_—"

Then, Jethro noticed her hands.

"You're fading," he said.

She lifted her hands, which were disappearing quickly, and when her eyes met his they were full of tears.

"Jethro," she whispered. He stepped toward her, touched her arm. "It's me. It's still in me."

From the other side of the shuttle, the hostess suddenly came to the same conclusion. "It's still her. It's not him, it's her! She's stolen his voice!"

But too late.

Before she could lose control of herself, Melody reached around Jethro's neck and pulled him into a quick kiss.

"I want to die happy," she murmured to him. Then, she hit the button on the emergency door and pushed the stunned Jethro away from her as hard as she could before she began to count down the seconds until her life ended.

For one brief moment, the Doctor's struggle seemed to surpass something. "No—" rips from his throat.

"Four...five...six."

The X-tonic shield broke. Melody, eyes tightly closed, tears leaking down her cheeks, vanished into the toxic light and the door slid shut.

"No!" exploded Jethro. He scrambled to his feet, slammed his fist on the door.

Biff and Hobbes dropped the Doctor as if they'd been burned and backed away. The Doctor could barely breathe, but now he could speak.

"It's gone," he said, breath in ragged spurts. "It's gone, it's gone..."

There was silence. Jethro sank to his knees, pounded his hands on the floor of the shuttle.

"No!" he said angrily through clenched teeth. "That's not fair! Not fair." He took a deep breath and whirled around, seeming to address his father specifically. "_She was seventeen years old!_"

They all stayed silent, ashamed. DeeDee was crying, Sky hid her head, and Hobbes looked shaken to his very core. The hostess is trembling so badly her legs can't hold her.

Then suddenly, Val Cane looked at the where the Doctor was lying on the floor and said, "I said it was her."

And the look the Doctor gave her was so full of revulsion and contempt that she didn't say another word.

Jethro groaned in disgust, and moved over to the Doctor, helping him into a sitting position. _I don't know how I can live with them after this, _he thought.

"She only wanted to save us," said the Doctor. His face was filled with sadness. "And she ended up dying for us."

* * *

A/N: what'd you think? it's not over yet, my pretties :)


	6. Here and Gone Again

"...repeat, Crusader 50, rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes, door-seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding, repeat, prepare for boarding."

No one moved as the voice came over the radio.

The Doctor looked around at everyone. "Melody," he said quietly. "Did anyone know her last name?"

Slowly, shamefully, each one of them shook their heads. Even Jethro.

They hadn't bothered to ask.

* * *

When they exited the shuttle, the Doctor saw Donna waiting for him. She had a sympathetic look on her face; she knew something had happened just from the way he held himself. They hugged.

"I watched a girl die today, Donna," he said into her neck. "An innocent, _innocent_ girl, and I couldn't do anything to save her."

"Cheer up a bit," said the redhead. "Maybe she's not really dead. After all, time-flux and all that—"

He pulled back to stare at her. "What?"

"How do you think they knew to get you lot?" She barely held back a smile.

"I thought the driver'd sent out a distress—"

"Nope, it didn't get through."

"Then how...?" The Doctor's brow was furrowed in puzzlement.

Donna's grin burst forth. She stepped aside to reveal a petite dark-haired girl in a white tank top and cargo shorts.

"Ha-ha!" shouted the Doctor, pulling Melody into a hug. "Oh, you clever little thing you!"

"That's me," she said. "Melody Nichols, resident cheater of death. Doctor, you're crushing me."

The Doctor laughed. "How did you know that the time fluctuations would render you immune to the X-tonic radiation but not that creature?"

Melody smiled wryly. "I didn't. I figured it out when I didn't die. I reappeared next to Donna at the pool."

"Scared me half to death, I might add," chimed Donna.

"I told her everything and we alerted the resort about the shuttle being stranded." Melody looked past the Doctor and bit her lip.

The Doctor turned to see what she saw: Jethro. He hadn't noticed her yet. He seemed defeated and exhausted.

"Go on," said the Doctor to Melody. "You saved all our lives today. I think you deserve to get the guy too."

She blushed lightly, walked over to him. Val and Biff noticed her before Jethro did. Biff's jaw went slack in disbelief and Vall uttered a high-pitched, "But she _died. _Didn't she, honey? We saw her _die_."

"Jethro?"

His face when he saw her—she'd remember that image for a long time. Disbelief, excitement, doubt, happiness, all flashed across his face until finally, he scooped her up in his arms and lifted her in a circle.

"You're brilliant!" he shouted, grinning and laughing. "How did you—nope, don't care how. You are just...brilliant." He put her down and added, "But don't ever try something like that again."

Melody winced. "Agreed."

"Now." His grin grew mischievous. "About that date."

He didn't give her a chance to reply, however, before his mouth was planted firmly on hers.

* * *

Days passed on Midnight, and every time Melody closed her eyes to sleep, she was afraid she would wake up somewhere else. The Doctor and his companion had gone as soon as they could after the incident on the shuttle, and sometimes Melody wished she had gone with him. Then Jethro would smile at her, or kiss her, and she would curse herself for ever wishing to be anywhere else.

Jethro had found that he couldn't live with his parents after what had happened in the shuttle. Every time he tried to move past it, those moments would repeat in his head. His already strained relationship with his parents snapped like a brittle twig, and now he and Melody resided in a small apartment on the leisure planet. Jethro was working, trying to save his money so the two of them could get off the planet together.

One night, Melody lay awake, watching with held breath as her hands disappeared until only the barest outline was left. Then, slowly with a tingling feeling, they reappeared. She sighed with relief.

"Mmm, Melody?" Beside her in bed, Jethro rolled onto his side. "Baby?"

Her cheeks burned as she smiled at him. He kissed her long and gentle, before slowly shifting his weight on top of her.

"You know, I realized something," he whispered into her ear, kissing her neck.

"What?" she asked. She sighed contentedly.

"I love you."

He stopped, almost not believing the words had come out of his mouth. He couldn't imagine a world without her. _I'm in trouble, _he thought fondly.

"You..." Her eyebrows wrinkled together. "You what?"

For the first time in his life, Jethro felt a combination of unsure embarrassment. "I don't think I can say it again, Melody."

"I...I don't know what to say."

He kissed her lips. "Say it back."

"Jethro, I'm..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm not here permanently."

He froze and said, "What?"

"Remember when the Doctor was talking all that gibberish about time-flux?" she asked. "I don't stay in one place very long...I'm surprised I've managed to stay here as long as I can—"

"Maybe things are different now," he protested. "Maybe after the X-tonic light exposure—"

"I'm still disappearing, Jethro."

He didn't say anything else that night; he simply rolled over and went back to bed.

* * *

Melody knew something was wrong when the Doctor returned. She was down by the pool of the resort, staring out of the window at Midnight. Wondering...wondering if that creature was dead or, like her, had managed to escape...

"Melody."

She recognized the Doctor's voice immediately and turned to face him. His expression floored her—it was grim.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know you must be happy."

_What a strange sentence. _"You're sorry that I'm happy, Doctor?" she asked, frowning.

"No." His hands were in the pockets of his pants, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry that I have to take you away from it."

Her heart sank. "What? Why?"

"You can't stay here, Melody. You follow the Tardis' time signature, but you're only human. Your species wasn't built for that kind of travel, this kind of whole-body molecular disintegration. If you keep disappearing, you'll never reappear again. You'll be lost in time, Melody."

Tears pricked the back of her eyes but she pushed them back, shaking her head. "Jethro—"

"He can't come with me, Melody. But you can. If you travel with me in the Tardis, you won't have to follow it anymore. You won't disappear. You'll be stable." It looked like it was killing him to have to tell her this, but at the same time...he seemed almost used to giving bad news. "Either way, you'll be leaving Jethro."

"I..." Her voice faltered and she cleared her throat. "I have to talk to him about this."

He nodded shortly. "I understand completely. But I think we both know which option he'd prefer. I leave tonight, Melody. If you're not here by then, I'll take that as your answer." Before he turned to walk away, he said, voice melancholy, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Jethro was getting dressed for work—the late shift—when Melody came into the room crying.

"Baby?" he asked as she collided heavily against him. "What's wrong?"

"I have to leave, Jethro," she said, her words muffled against his chest. "I can't stay here."

His face fell. "If this is about what I said—"

"God, no, Jethro, no, it's..." She wiped at her eyes and pulled back from him to look him in the eye. "The Doctor's back, Jethro. He told me I'll disappear forever if I don't go with him."

"That can't be true," he sputtered. "I mean, you've stayed for this long haven't you, there's no reason—"

"I'm a ghost, Jethro!" she screamed. "I'm not real! I'm the ghost of a girl who died on Earth hundreds of years ago! The longer I stay on this planet the faster I fade away!"

"But you're real, I know you're real," Jethro protested emphatically. He took her hands. "Everything we've done was real, the time we've spent together has been real, I know it."

She choked back a sob as he caressed her cheek. Already, she was beginning to fade away. "I can't stay here," she said miserably.

"Then I'll come with you."

"You can't come, don't you see?" Tears coursed down her cheeks. "You can't."

Finally, he seemed to understand. He pulled a small box from his jacket pocket, and the expression of her face was pure misery as it dawned on her.

"Jethro," she whispered.

"Take the ring," he said, opening the box. A little diamond ring on a silver band lay nestled within it. "Just take the ring and say you'll marry me."

"Jethro, I can't—"

"Melody, please," he begged. "Please. If you're going to leave, just say you'll marry me. That's all I'm asking."

His eyes pleaded with her, and the pain she knew she was causing him showed on his face. Her heart broke.

"I'll marry you," said Melody brokenly.

She was just beginning to become transparent as he slipped the ring onto her finger with a look of bittersweet happiness. She was shaking and he slipped his black jacket over her shoulders, kissed her on the forehead, and murmured, "I love you."

She whispered it back, so faint that he almost didn't catch it, and his heart jumped in elation. Then she left. Just outside, in the hallway of her apartment, was the Tardis waiting for her. The Doctor opened the door of the Tardis and held out his hand, and as she went almost completely see-through, he pulled her inside.

"That was a stupid risk," he said, rushing around to get the Tardis started. "You waited too long, you almost vanished completely—"

Donna grabbed his arm. He took one look at Melody's tear-stained face and stopped. "Oh, Melody. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize..."

As she began to solidify, the ring sparkled on her finger. She reached into the pocket of the jacket, which smelled cruelly of Jethro, and her fingers found a small squsre picture. The picture of them together with planet Midnight as the background. In the picture, her mouth was open in laughter, and he was kissing her temple, his arm around her waist. Melody began again to cry.

* * *

Jethro felt dazed, like the whole thing had been a dream. But it hadn't. Her clothes were still in the dresser, the drawer on the top. Her hair tie still sat on the bedside table. Her toothbrush was still next to his on the bathroom counter.

He wasn't even nineteen, and he had a fiancee. A fiancee he'd never see again.

He sighed heavily, sadness washing over him and, sitting on the edge of the bed, he put his head in his hands.

* * *

6 Months Later...

* * *

The Doctor watched the eighteen-year-old sadly. She still wore the jacket. She still wore the ring. She stood on the threshold of the Tardis, staring out the open door at space and the stars just beyond it.

He knew what she was thinking about.

"You can never go back," he said gently. "You know that, don't you?"

"I know," she replied. Her voice is soft, her mind far away. "I can never see him again." Her hand curled around her swollen belly. "But she can, Doctor. She can see her father. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

fin.

review? :)


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